


More than Your Magic

by Akiko_Natsuko



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt: Human Shield, Protectiveness, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 01:11:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Evergreen had almost forgotten what it was like to be feared for the magic in her eyes, but this was different.  She was no longer the terrified child who had promised to never use her magic again. She could flee. She could fight.She also wasn't alone this time.





	More than Your Magic

Evergreen had almost forgotten what it was like to be feared for the magic in her eyes. It was a feeling that she had been more than happy to leave behind when she had met Bickslow and Freed, remembering how terrified whispers had followed her wherever she went in her home village, the result of a childhood accident where her magic had burst out of her. She had wanted to press her hands to her ears back then, and squeeze her eyes shut, and pretend that she couldn’t their fear and anger and in more than a few cases hatred. But she had been too frightened too, terrified of what they might do to her if she did.

She didn’t feel that now, even though part of her quailed as she glanced around at the crowd that was beginning to gather around her. _I’m not a monster,_ she thought as she drew herself up to her full height, wings fluttering nervously behind her. She could flee. She could fight. She was no longer the terrified child who had promised to never use her magic again. She was a Fairy Tail wizard, one who had just helped stop the bandits that had been terrorising this town for months. And yet, the way they were staring at her, some pointing at her, and others whispering, told her that right now they saw her as worse than the men and women she had been hired to track down and stop, and something cold and broken took root in her chest.

“Can I help you?” She asked, not letting any of that bleed into her voice, and holding her head high even as part of her wanted to curl up and hide away from the accusing gazes. Only days before they had been welcomed with open arms, with children asking her about her magic and being a wizard, and now… _Now they’ve seen the real you,_ an insidious voice whispered in the back of her mind. The same one that had made it so easy for her to embrace the darker aspects of her magic, and why she hadn’t hesitated, even when doubts had crept in during the Battle of Fairy Tail. It had been easier. But she couldn’t do that now. “The bandits have been dealt with, and as soon as we have been paid for our work we will be leaving,” she added, hoping that the reminder that they weren’t staying would diffuse things, but whether it was the reminder that they had done the job and deserved paying for it, or her tone, or just plain fear, had the crowd shifting, the whispers turning louder and darker.

“MONSTER!”

She wasn’t sure where the first shout had come from, and from the looks of it, no one was about to own up to it as they stirred again, looking between one another. Nervous, but not disagreeing, and she could feel her eyes beginning to sting. _I thought I had left this all behind,_ she thought, and it hurt more than she could have ever imagined. What made it worse was that Bickslow and Freed weren’t here with her, the latter working on something in the guild records and Bickslow up to mischief if his grin when he’d waved her off had been anything to go by. She knew that they would have been there in an instant if they were, but they weren’t, and as much as she knew that Elfman would defend her, she didn’t want him to see this. To know what her magic could bring down on her, their heads…which meant that she had to face them alone.

Again.

Evergreen took a step forward. It was the only choice. Retreating and falling silent felt too much like the scared child in her memory, but she had only just opened her mouth, not entirely sure what she was about to say when a hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her back.

“What is going on here?”

_Elfman._

She tilted her head to look at him, taking in the set jaw and the scowl as he glanced around at the crowd, embarrassment colouring her cheeks when he looked at her, his expression softening just a little. “It’s nothing, just a misunderstanding,” she muttered, cringing as she heard the lie in her own words, unsurprised when he growled.

“That’s not what it looks like.”

“Elfman, I…” The first projectile struck her shoulder, the impact making her cry out more in surprise than pain, although the sting that lingered told her it had left damage in its wake. The crowd coming to life now, the whispers becoming a roar of noise. Insults. Accusations. A thousand things that she had heard too many times before, and she froze, unable to move or think, even as something else struck the ground just shy of her foot. _It’s happening again, and Elfman is going to see it. He’s going to realise that I’m not…_ Something else struck her, and then another, and then there was a loud bellow, one that she had only heard in battle as Elfman moved to stand in front of her. “Elfman…”

“Stay behind me.” It was a command, and for a moment she instinctively felt the urge to refuse and bicker like normal, but that faded away as he jerked and grunted as something slammed into him.

“Elfman!”

“I said to stay behind me!” He growled, flinging out a hand to stop her as she automatically tried to move around in front of him. The reluctance and fear that had held her back from protecting herself, disappearing at the threat to him, and she ignored his order, trying to push to the front, not sure whether she was going to shield him or lash out at their attackers. Her eyes were burning behind her glasses, her magic begging to be let free.

_They’re hurting him._

She could take the fear, the insults and everything else they might throw at her, but not that, and her hand was on her glasses before she even realised what she was doing. “Don’t.” Elfman had moved too, turning to face her granting her clear view of the cuts now littering his skin, broad back shielding them from the crowd and the projectiles that she could still hear clattering on the ground around them, his expression fierce in a way that she had never seen it. Yet, the hand that grasped her wrist was gentle, and it was that, which stopped her from resisting as he pulled her hand away from her glasses.

“But…” _They hurt you…_

“You’re better than they are,” he said with such conviction, that Evergreen froze, her eyes burning for a different reason as she stared at him, and there was no fight left in her as he slowly began to walk forward, shepherding her away from the crowd one step at a time.

**  
“Idiot!” Evergreen was raging by the time they reached the safety of the inn where they had been staying, the news about how they had dealt with the bandits, and the subsequent shift in attitude from the townsfolk having yet to reach this far out. Apparently, the crowd hadn’t known what to do with Elfman’s calm, steady shielding of her as they’d walked away, as it didn’t seem as though they had been pursued. Yet. She wasn’t naïve enough to think that this was over, or that Elfman would be spared when they came after her again, but they had some time, and she was going to make the most of that as she glowered at him.

Still, her hands were gentle as she pressed Elfman down into a seat, choosing to ignore the fact that he was choosing to let her push him around as otherwise she could never have moved him, and instead glaring down at him. “What the hell were you thinking?” Blood was trickling from the cuts on his face, and as he straightened, she saw him wince, but he met her gaze without hesitation as he asked in a serious tone that she had never heard from him.

“Did you really expect me to let them hit you?”

“I…” _Yes,_ was on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped herself. That was her expectation from the last time her magic had brought trouble down on her head, and she took a deep breath. This was Elfman. She still didn’t fully understand how they had got to where they were, or even what to call whatever the hell this thing between them was, but she knew without a doubt that he could have never stood by and let her get hurt, and she shook her head. “Idiotic man…” She didn’t know what she was supposed to be feeling at the moment. Relief? Happiness? Worry? Guilt? Everything was churning together, a roaring sound flooding her ears, made worse by the fact that Elfman was smiling at her, relieved that she hadn’t been able to say ‘yes’ and at a loss she let her shoulders slump in defeat. “At least let me clean you up,” she murmured, reaching out to brush suddenly trembling fingers against his cheek. “Your face is a m-mess.”

“Ever,” Elfman had moved the second that her voice had cracked, reaching up to grasp the hand touching him, and squeezing lightly until she met his gaze. “They were wrong.” He said it with the same overwhelming certainty as he had told her that she was better than them, and just as before she found herself speechless in the face of it, especially when he added softly. “You are far more than your magic.”


End file.
